Seasons
by Ombre Rose
Summary: CANON. Passing through the four seasons, here is a short story telling Kenshin and Kaoru's marriage, her pregnancy, the birth of Kenji and possibly life after that.
1. Autumn

**Seasons  
**By Ombre Rose

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_- Autumn -_

* * *

A month shy of a year since the encounter with Enishi and his Jinchu, and there was that sense of definite serenity almost permanently brooding over the "Kenshin Gumi", as they once called themselves. When once there had been the constant threat of revenge and evil plots, the mornings that came now droned along peacefully, and every day the bright and soft caressing sun illuminated everything it touched. In this present day, the group was at long last living in harmony and leading their own lives.

Starting from her sudden departure from Tokyo to Aizu, Megumi had opened her own medical clinic and have been diligently saving lives just as she promised she would. At times it seemed as though she never left, for she wrote often and visited whenever her schedule permitted it.

Sanosake, who have made it his life's journey to travel the world, have only just begun exploring South East Asia. Keeping track of his whereabouts, however, was a tad tricky for the letters he sent were far and few. The last time anyone has heard of him, he was trekking and climbing mountains in Cambodia.

In the meantime back in the city of Tokyo, Yahiko was living up to being a true son of a Tokyo Samurai, fast becoming one of the town's finest and youngest aspiring swordsmen the townsfolk have not known in the Meiji era.

Kaoru finally got married, was contented and living the quiet life she always dreamed of having. With the swing of her bokken and the teachings of her father's swordsmanship, she continued to see through life by the Utopian ideology that the sword was meant to protect.

As for Kenshin, there was no other better way to put it. He was _home_.

But such quietude and happiness have certainly not come easy. Before such a time came upon them, there have been many wounds that were opened and reopened, blood that was spilled and hearts that were shattered.

People say time heals all wounds, but contrary to popular belief, that is not entirely true. It is true, however, that with time the mind and heart learns to protect its sanity, something which Himura Kenshin has done throughout his entire existence. Even with the scars of rancour and remorse, the hurt ebbed away, albeit slowly. But it is the wounding of the heart he remembers. The feelings of grief, emptiness and defeat. Those that never completely heal can only be mourned by him alone.

And yet, he needed only to see past the loneliness, the weight of his burden to find one Kamiya Kaoru always smiling for him.

The many days he had spent with her had changed all that was cold and dark in his life, flooding it with a soft golden light and sweeping it away like crumbling ashes. She was the innocence to his guilt, the hope to his repentance. The luke-warm assurance of her love had sung straight to his heart, as if to exorcise the demon that he believed was in him. Of all the world's unsolved mysteries, how she could love a malefactor of human life such as he would be the biggest. And he loved her in return.

He loved this new love.

Fate had played its cruel trick on him, and had he not found his life's purpose from the vindictiveness of Enishi's Jinchu, he would have continued to submerge himself over and over in the paroxysms of grief and regret. But somehow by the work of some sort of divine intervention he was given a second chance at happiness. A chance to express just how truly precious Kamiya Kaoru was to him, more than he ever dared to admit.

So then came one beautiful autumn's day when the leaves on the trees fell thick and there was lustre in the sky. Right here in the comfort of the home they lived in together, Kenshin had asked her permission to join her family name with his in marriage. And with all the magic of love and joy of life in her large luminous eyes that beheld everything about them, she had answered yes.

It was then that true happiness began.


	2. Spring

**Seasons  
**By Ombre Rose

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

_- Spring - _

* * *

The sun was shining kindly and the wind was blowing cool. The trees framing the picturesque scene were a lovely, soft gold. With the pulse of spring there was all the fresh and green, the faint perfume of flowers and the scent of mildly moist earth in the air that Himura Kenshin appreciated so much. It was the season of fresh beginnings, giving birth to new life after the dead of winter.

Kaoru had insisted that they take their afternoon tea on the engawa, and in their sharing they spoke of happy times. About what was usually the talk of the town and other recent on-goings in their happily married lives. He listened attentively as he always did, watching the way she glowed as she recounted the events that took place that morning.

"That's eight official students after today's sign ups," Kaoru told him, the wild vivacity that was in her face and manner infectious. "Eight, Kenshin! We haven't had this many students since the incident with the Hiruma brothers."

"Aa. Seems like the dojo is gaining a lot more popularity these days, that it is."

"Maybe someday we'll become just as popular as the Maekawa Dojo," she mused thoughtfully.

"It's a definite possibility."

"Wouldn't that be something? Then I'll finally be able to restore honour to the name Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. I'm sure my late father would have been happy about that."

Kenshin smiled kindly. "I believe your late father would have wished for your happiness more than the prestige of his school, that I do."

She looked to him, her face an answering glow of gratitude. "It does make me happy to see the school making so much progress. We've really come a long way, Kenshin."

"Thanks to you."

She shook her head. "Not all of it was entirely my doing. I had nothing to do with having four teenage boys showing up at my doorstep this morning. The credit goes completely to Yahiko."

"Eh? How do you mean?"

"It started from a fight that happened yesterday," she explained, picking up her teacup and blowing at the steaming drink before taking a sip. "In the eastern part of town. Yahiko told me those boys had ran into trouble with a group of gang members who called themselves the Bosozoku. Have you heard of them?"

A quick flame of recognition leaped in his eyes. "I've heard of the Bosozoku, that I have."

"I thought so. Personally I'm not too familiar with the group, but I've heard they're a militia of drug dealers. They're known not only for drug trafficking but gang violence. They seem to like picking up unnecessary fights with people they think are smaller and weaker than them too."

"So the Bosozoku picked a fight with the boys." Kenshin had meant for it to be a question, but he knew better.

"Unfortunately, yes. It so happens they were all at the same restaurant. Halfway through the evening, the gang members got drunk and were bothering the waitresses and the other patrons and causing a scene. It was Aki who tried to stop them."

"Who's Aki?"

"He's one of the boys who joined the dojo today."

"I see. The Bosozoku must have been furious."

"They were, extremely. They even got violent. If Yahiko hadn't heard the commotion from outside and intervene at that time, Aki and the rest of them would have gotten themselves seriously injured."

Kaoru set her tea down. "They told me Yahiko put up a really good fight. Came out of the battle a little battered and possibly even a little bloody from the looks of it, but otherwise he's fine."

"And no one else was hurt?" Kenshin asked, concerned.

"Not a scratch," she said with some satisfaction, and remembered the pleasant surprise she received that morning. "I was practicing my katas after you left for the market when I heard them coming to the front gate. They asked first if this was the dojo where Yahiko studied kenjutsu. The question surprised me, but then I figured they were probably his friends since they were all about his age. So I asked if they were looking for him. They said no, but they wanted to learn kenjutsu too, just like him. And well... I guess I got carried away after that."

"Carried away? How so?"

She looked sheepish as she said, "I immediately gave them their first lesson."

Kenshin couldn't resist a chuckle. "The boys must have been thrilled."

"They could barely contain themselves. Shooting off questions about hand grips and basic exercises. It brought me back to that time when Yahiko agreed to enter my dojo. Do you remember, Kenshin, what I said before? About how seeing kids like Yahiko and the others made me believe that the art of kenjutsu is becoming a way more than an art of killing?"

He nodded. "I do."

"I've thought about it. After all that has happened to us, I realized I still believe in it," she murmured, lost in thought. "Perhaps it seems naïve of me to continue believing in something that might not truly happen, but while I agree that times have changed and even kenjutsu have changed, that naïve dream can still become a reality."

She shifted her gaze from whatever she saw in her mind, and met his violet eyes. "You told me once that although I can do my best to teach people the right way, there are times when my words just don't reach them. But when Yahiko became a student at my dojo, that's when I started believing they do. Seeing him now as he reaches out to others, showing them how the sword can give life rather than take them, I couldn't be more proud."

Her lips turned up into a debonair smile. "In the end though," she continued. "It was you who made it happen. If you hadn't literally brought him to my doorstep, I never would have had Yahiko for a student."

"Sometimes, it is not so much of how things happen, but what happens after, that it is."

"I suppose that's true. And so much has happened since then." She let her mind wander in the mist of memories. "It's been more than a year, and Yahiko has grown way beyond our expectations."

"Aa."

"He's quite popular among the kids in this town."

He smiled. "Is that so?"

She murmured her confirmation. "Although I must say he's not nearly as popular as you, Kamiya Dojo's Himura Kenshin." Chuckling at his baffled expression, she added, "You know how kids are. They always look up to someone who's strong."

"I see."

"They even came up with a nickname for you." Humour, with pleasure running just behind it, lit her face. "They're calling you Samurai X."

Kenshin's eyes widened in dumb surprise. "Oro?"

She let out a giggle akin to the sound of a rainbow-tinted spray. "When I first heard it, it made me laugh so hard. Then I started thinking about the nickname and somehow it gave me a notion."

"And what's that?"

She made a show as though she was seriously contemplating his question. "Well, if my husband ever decides to leave me like he did before he went to Kyoto –" At that, she gave him a pointed look, easing a sheepish and somewhat guilty smile out of him before continuing, "I'll know exactly where to find him. Because you know what they say." She pointed to the scar on his left cheek. "X marks the spot!"

Kenshin laughed. It was thick, rich and full of appreciation. "I think this husband of yours ought to know better than to run out his wife, that I do."

"He had better!" She warned as she poked him, her smile filled with playfulness and exuberance. "Because if he doesn't, I shall make certain that he suffers at the hands of Kamiya Kaoru!"

"_Himura_ Kaoru," he corrected, causing her eyes to light with surprise and wonted happiness. "And as I recall, I've been _under_ the hands of such a person, and didn't find them to be in the slightest bit sufferable, that I did not." A flood of pride rose in him when blushing clouds of pink came to touch the apples of her cheeks.

"Mou, Kenshin!"

"Now, now. No need to be embarrassed. I did thoroughly enjoyed the experience, that I did."

She flushed a little deeper at his implications. "I bet you wouldn't be saying the same thing once I start beating you with a bokken."

"Oro? But won't you take pity on your poor husband?"

"Not by a long shot."

"I think I'd prefer the hands, that I do," he mumbled, feigning disappointment and defeat.

They laughed together then, like the sudden outburst of the glad bird in the tree-top. The sound, the sheer joy of it, deep and broad fell onto Kenshin's heart. And Kaoru's face, which glowed from the exertion of her merriment, was as radiant as a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day. Looking closely though, he noted how her eyes were lined at the sides with fatigue, and inwardly frowned.

He knew Kaoru was having trouble sleeping of late, mostly complaining about a strange sense of nauseousness. The first time she fell sick she made a dash to the bathroom in the middle of the night and threw up her stomach's contents. It had been a minor problem, coming and going like a hiccup. Kaoru dismissed it as simply bad indigestion, but over the weeks the runs to the washroom became increasingly frequent. Worst, the horrible feeling would last through to the morning and even all day long.

Perturbed by this strange symptom, Kenshin had given her a herb to ease the nauseousness, but she had refused, claiming it smelt foul. Even when he reminded her it was important to get back the energy to pursue her kendo lessons with her students, she'd always wave it off. Before long, she was losing sleep and considerable amount of weight due to her lack of appetite.

Looking at her untouched plate now, he realized his mistake now for allowing himself to be persuaded by her assurance that she would eventually get better.

"You're not eating again, Kaoru. These are your favourite."

She shook her head. "No, thank you. I haven't got an appetite today," she said, picking up her tea instead to take another sip.

"You haven't been having an appetite at all lately, that you have not."

"I told you before, Kenshin. It's nothing. I'm just not hungry."

His brows drew together as they did when he was thoughtful or concerned. He knew it was more than just a matter about hunger. "Is the queasiness still troubling you?"

Her shoulders moved in something too casual to be called a shrug. "Hmm, it comes and goes."

He let out a sigh. "I should have brought you to see Genzai-sensai the first time you felt ill, that I should. Tomorrow we will go."

"But it's really nothing, Kenshin," she insisted stubbornly.

"Please, Kaoru. My concern is for your well-being, that it is."

Ignoring the willful exasperation in his voice, she continued, "I had a feeling you'd think that I am down with something. But the truth is I'm not. I'm perfectly healthy." She looked to him with a shy smile. "In fact, I had Genzai-sensai confirm this for me when I visited his clinic the other day."

An expression of surprise came upon his face. "You've already seen Genzai-sensai?"

"I wasn't going to just sit around and not at least find out if there's anything wrong with me."

"Why didn't you ask me to go with you?"

She looked at him kindly, catching the tone of disappointment that had crept into his voice. "I wasn't expecting to go without you. It just happened that I was passing by the clinic one day."

"So it's really nothing?" he asked at length.

"It's really nothing." In a musing state of contemplation, she peered at him over the brim of her teacup. "Nothing that won't go away in nine months."

His eyes widened. "Oro?"

"Kenshin..." With deliberate ease, she set her cup down and looked at him, her eyes very clear. "There is something important I have to tell you. Something Genzai-sensai found during my last visit."

"Ororo?"

Reaching for his hand now, she linked her fingers with his. An inspiring ray of excitement instantly came into her azure eyes. She watched the way his doe-like eyes blinked back at hers in a kind of confused astonishment. On a long and slightly nervous breath, she confessed, "I'm pregnant."

He stilled.

Suddenly, there was a vast quietness creeping through the trees, flowers and the garden in which they were surrounded in. And in the shocked silence, he could only stare at her in a sort of stunned incredulity. There can still be shocks beyond imagining, he realized. Had it always been this quiet, he wondered fleetingly, for the only sound he heard now was the thundering beat of his heart. But even as the palpitating stillness lengthened, he couldn't bring himself to speak. He wanted to say something – anything, but he had no voice. And when he finally broke out of his stunned reverie, his words barely came out as a raspy whisper.

"You're pregnant," he breathed, repeating the words as if he was still trying to absorb the words.

There was a faint tremor of amusement on her lips. Her free hand fluttered over his scarred cheek like a brush of wings, sweeping his fiery hair away from his still dazed face. "Yes, I am."

"So this means that I'm... that I'm going to be a father?"

The smile she softly used filled the atmosphere with a reassuring tranquility as all the sounds went lost to him in the whistle of air humming by. "That's right, Kenshin. And you know what?" The hand that touched his cheek moved to frame the side of his face. "You're going to be such a wonderful father."

She saw something stir in his violet eyes, and felt its twin shift inside her heart.

Feeling the heights of magnanimity and love, Kenshin took her chin with his fingers and sought her lips with his for a long and sensual kiss.

* * *

**Author's notes: **_I borrowed the name Bosozoku from a Japanese real-life gang of motor-bikers. Just in case you recognized it._

_Happy New Year, everyone! :)_


	3. Winter (I)

**Seasons  
**By Ombre Rose

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

_- Winter - _

* * *

**I**

Through the weeks that followed after Kaoru's baby announcement, Kenshin had thought of nothing else but of her and the child living inside her. Like the devoted and loving husband he was, he tended to her every need, every complaint as she struggled with the woes of being a heavily pregnant woman. She was eight months in and during that time, he had come to realize how exhausting pregnancy was.

There were the typical symptoms, from bouts of morning illnesses, unpredictable mood swings to sudden food cravings, all of which came as no surprise to him. As the weeks evolved into months, however, the intensity of these tell-tale indications of his wife's pregnancy had only increased tenfold. She was like a firecracker, one in which if he had his hand closed around it and set it off, he was going to hope he was wise enough not to have used his good hand.

He needed help. More, he needed a _woman_. Thankfully at his request, Megumi had agreed to attend to Kaoru personally, travelling all the way from Aizu to Tokyo to be with her these couple of months. Yet, while the doctor's presence here had made all the difference to him, there was still an uncomfortable premonition of fear looming over him as the baby's due date drew closer. The risks of childbirth frightened him, more so because it was beyond his control. Unlike his past enemies, this time he was up against a truly formidable foe as it took its victims unpredictably and without reason. So he prayed in his heart, that his wife and child would make it through the birth alive when the time comes.

Kenshin let out a sigh now, exhausted from some sort of mental depletion. Approaching the large wooden gateway of the Kamiya household, he unlocked the doors and stepped into the courtyard which was carpeted white with freshly fallen snow. Like the zenith in the skies, inside all was motionless and still. Distantly, like a murmur of the cold and bitter wind came a rhythmical sound of snoring from one of the bedrooms, and he knew it to be Yahiko's. Like Megumi, the boy had truly been a blessing, offering to go back to living at the dojo to keep an eye on Kaoru on days Kenshin had to work the night shift.

Work was a stranger to him, having wandered Japan for ten long years surviving on nothing but a good head on his shoulders and his sakabatou in tow. He was a swordsman, and as a swordsman in the current Meiji era, there are only so many options available to him.

Then one day he came across a notice posted by the police department and saw that it was an offer, a reward for the capture of any persons believed to be involved with the Bosozoku. The name had jolted a memory in him, for it was the same group of men who had previously caused trouble to Yahiko and the other students at the Kamiya Dojo.

He hadn't wasted any time in accepting the offer and went straight to work. Less than a month later, more than half of the Bosozoku have been turned in, bringing the town's crime rate to an all-new low. And for his efforts, Kenshin had been compensated. Realizing then that he could make a living doing this, he began to take on more police work, even finding himself working with Saitou from time to time. It was good money, but it took him away from Kaoru on most evenings, away from a home that would soon be filled with the sound of a child's laughter.

Wishing to retire for the night, Kenshin made his way to the bathhouse. He fired up some chopped wood and drew himself a bath. He would wash quickly, he decided, eager to join his wife in bed. It took him an hour at most, including the time he had taken to heat up a bath for himself to complete his nightly wash. Toweled dry and fully dressed in a sleeping yukata, he padded his way towards their shared bedroom. As he slide the shoji door open, the warmth emanating from inside the room buffeted his face against the chilly breath of winter in the air. Involuntarily, he shivered and closed the door behind him, his gaze lingering on the sleeping figure before him.

Kaoru's tiny frame, even with the large swell of her belly, was absorbed completely in the dark and murmur of the night. She breathed deeply; the breath whooshing out through her slightly parted lips was as soft as the fallen snow outside.

He moved first to set the sakabatou aside by the hibachi*, barely making a single sound, not even a rustle. Yet, somehow as though sensing his presence in the room, Kaoru's blue eyes began to blink open.

"Kenshin?" She murmured, her voice threaded with sleep.

"Aa," he smiled apologetically down at her. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you, that I did not."

"It's alright. I must have dozed off."

With a hand supporting her protruding belly, she tried to shift into a sitting position. Kenshin went to her quickly, supporting her back as she sat up before joining her on the futon. Even in the dark, he had noticed the cast of shadows under her eyes. "You should go back to sleep, Kaoru. You're tired."

"I hadn't meant to fall asleep. I was actually waiting for you to come home."

Concern gathered on his brow. "You shouldn't have. You need your rest, that you do."

Stubbornly, she shook her head. "I didn't want to fall asleep without you. You've been on the night shift a lot lately. By the time you come home, I'm always already asleep. I just wanted to make sure I stay awake till you get home this time."

"I apologize, Kaoru," he said sincerely. "Didn't realize I was keeping you up at night, that I did not."

"Don't apologize." She lifted her parted lips to his. "Welcome home, Kenshin."

Her scent and taste, which were as supple and sweet as a rose in bloom, had him spell bounded. His body ached for her—depended on her for sanity and strength alike. With the slight movement of his fingers, he tilted her head back a little more, deepening the kiss as their lips meld in perfect union. Reluctantly, he broke the contact, and his heart swelled with love when he saw that her smile was linked with a contented sigh.

"That reminded me of how much I missed you today."

He traced the line of her cheekbone with his finger, doing his best to repress the impulse that was guiding him towards her mouth again. "I missed you too, that I did. But we really should turn in for the night, that we should."

"Not yet, please. Will you hold me? Just for a little while?"

He sighed, feeling himself giving in to her request. He started to shift behind her, adjusting his legs around the sides of her, then drawing her into the warmth of his arms so her head lay back on his shoulder. Reaching out for the sleep covers pooled at the foot of the mattress, he brought it up to them to lay it over their legs, warming them against the nippy cold. Her cold fingers slipped over his forearms, and he heard her sigh in appreciation at how his heat surrounded her this way.

"Better?" he asked.

She rested her cheek against his in tender gesture. "Yes, much better now."

She ran her fingers lightly along the length of his arm in rhythmical movements, silently marvelling at the taut, wiry muscles underneath them. Feeling the shiver of tingles crisping his skin at where she touched, she delighted in the knowledge of the effect she has on him.

"Did you catch any bad guys tonight?"

"Aa."

"Were they a lot of trouble?"

"It's nothing I can't handle." There was a touch of mirth in his voice, his breath adding warmth against her pale cheek.

A tired smile graced her lips. "Good. As long as you're home and safe," she decided, but her words were shortly followed with a vanquished and longing sigh. "I wish you didn't have to work so hard. I don't get to see you as much as I'd liked."

"I'm only making sure you're happy and well taken care of, that I am. You know there isn't anything I would not do for you, Kaoru."

"You'll make me much happier if you spent more time with me."

Hearing the unhappiness in her voice, he sighed again against her hair. "I'd loved to, that I do. But someone has to take care of the household expenses, and you're certainly in no shape to see to that right now, that you are not."

He knew the battle was half won when she submitted into an uncharacteristic brooding silence.

"Maybe we can ask Tae to split Yahiko's allowance with us," she suggested a moment after. "He can consider that as payback for the times he lived here as a freeloader."

He chuckled. "You don't mean that. Besides, I lived here freely as well, that I did. You can consider this as my payback."

"That's nonsense. You've done so much for me since your stay here." Inside her mind, she recounted all the things he did around the dojo. "You did the laundry, cooked us delicious meals on most nights, prepared my bath water almost every day. And lately, you've also been helping Yahiko and the other students with their training. So with all things considered, it is I who should be paying you back, not the other way round."

"You already did," he told her earnestly.

She turned her head to look up at him. Her eyes, which were as deep and blue as the ocean, held gleams of curiosity. "Since when?"

"Since the day you agreed to marry me," he said, surprising her even more than he already had. "I could and will never be worthy enough for you, Kaoru. It is for that reason alone that I will do everything in my power to ensure your happiness."

"You're wrong, Kenshin," she murmured determinedly. "There is no other man in the world who is more worthy of my love than you. I love you, more than you can ever imagine."

"Kaoru." He buried his face in her hair. "You're unlike any other."

"With you, I'm more than I ever was."

"I haven't earned you," he said quietly.

She huffed. "Silly man, I'm not a wage or a prize to be earned. I wouldn't– oh!"

"What? What is it?" His body jerked at her sudden exclamation, prepared to haul her – swollen belly and all, into his arms and take her straight to Megumi's, when she pressed a hand to her stomach in an action that was purely reflex. "Is the baby giving you trouble?"

"No, no. The baby's moving. A lot. " Thrilled, she grabbed his hand and laid it over her middle. "Do you feel it? It's like a rippling inside me."

Panic shifted to awe, filling his eyes, his heart as he felt the unborn child stir inside her. "I feel it," he announced, feeling somewhat breathless. "I feel it, that I do."

Her eyes were glimmering like stars in her pale face. "Seems like our baby doesn't want to be left out of the conversation. Yes, little one," she soothed, soft and sweet as a tune that one knows so well as she stroked her rounded tummy tenderly. "We know you're there. And your mommy and daddy love you very much. Don't we, Papa Kenshin?"

"Yes." There was a hint of huskiness in his voice, his breath caught in his throat at the look of wonderment and love in the depths of his wife's sapphire blue eyes. "Yes, we do."

* * *

_From Wikipedia: *****_**_H__ibachi _**_(__火鉢 'fir__e bowl'__) __is a traditional __Japanese __heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical or a box-shaped open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning __charcoal__._

**Author's notes: **_That came pretty quickly after my last update, did it not? Partly because I already had a draft ready, and all it needed was some major editing and it'd be done, which surprisingly took less the time I was expecting it take. The other reason was really because of the encouraging Fanfiction alerts I've received in my email. Aww, you guys! So this is my way of thanks, and I hope the chapter was to your liking!_

_The next chapter will still be in winter, in which we await the arrival of Kenji. Yay! Are you excited about that? I know I am! _

_Until the next time!_


	4. Winter (II)

**Seasons  
**By Ombre Rose

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

_- Winter -_

* * *

**II**

Beneath the cold glare of the desolate late afternoon sky, Kenshin pulled his haori tighter around him as his face caught the full strength of the rising wind in the air. It flew around him, sobbing in their dismay and panting down the icy pathway into town. Even in the beginning of winter, the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts remained vicious, leaving a note of despairing appeal to fall like a cold hand upon one's living soul. And all around him, the snow flashed and glittered like gleam of stars. But he does not feel the cold. Over the years he had spent as a wanderer, he had become used to the frosty thraldom of winter.

He looked down at the grocery basket he tucked under his arm, and inwardly checked the list of ingredients off in his mind. He was to make dinner for five tonight, having invited Megumi and Genzai-sensei over to spend time with Kaoru. As the baby's arrival drew closer to the due date, his wife had been given strict instructions not to travel outside the dojo in this weather as a precautionary measure. It was unsurprising that the idea of confinement didn't sit well with Kaoru, making her extremely irritable. For days, she complained, whined, bitched and sulked. While Kenshin bore most of the brunt of her frustrations, he never minded it for a moment, understanding completely that part of it had to do with the hormonal changes her body was going through. He'd admit though that the extra company had eased his wife's tantrums off him and was glad he thought of it in the first place.

Lifting his face to the sky now, he noted the grate-grayness with a frown. It had taken him longer than expected to finish off the list, having not anticipated most of the stalls to be closed early for the day due to the recent unpredictable weather. And he had one more item on his shopping list. Perhaps he could check out one more store, he decided, before calling it a day. He figured it probably wouldn't take up too much of his time and thought better to make the most of his trip into town while he can especially during this time of the year. On that thought, he turned a corner and went further down the icy lane. Halfway through it though, his ears began to pick up the sound of hurried footsteps from a distance even before he heard the frantic yell of his name that came with it.

"Kenshin!"

Surprised, he swung around and instantly caught the look of panic on Yahiko's face. "Yahiko, What is it? Is Kaoru–"

"Kaoru's going into labour!"

Alarm was suddenly alive in him, with its cold hands closing around his throat. He broke into a run, with his young friend hot on his heels. They went along the streets of Tokyo, over the bridge, and past the other shop houses. This was it, Kenshin realized. He was going to be a father, responsible for another human being, another life, in just a few hours.

He practically burst through the front gates and made a dash towards their shared bedroom. Inside, Genzai-sensai and Megumi were already at work, gathering towels and a bowl of warm water and setting them aside for the delivery. At his sudden entry, they turned to stare at him, startled. But he had eyes only for Kaoru, who was lying on the mattress in a heap of white sheets. Her usually smiling face, now as pale as wax, was stiffed with pain.

"Kenshin?"

Every nerve in his body seemed like a strained harp-string. He entered the warm room and took up the empty space by her side. "I'm here, Kaoru." He noted how beads of perspiration were forming on her forehead as her face contorted in convulsion and dabbed them away with the sleeve of his gi. "How are you doing?"

"Terrible!" she moaned. "I had no idea it would be like this."

She was fighting for air, caught in the grips of a pain she'd never known before. "Just so you know," she gritted through her teeth. "I completely blame you for this."

Kenshin blinked at her, before offering her a compassionate and patient smile. Trust his wife to crack a snide remark at a time like this. He looked over her to the pair of doctors, troubled. "Megumi-dono, isn't it too soon for Kaoru to be in labour? She's not due until another three weeks, that she is not."

"I know it's early, but there's no need to worry, Ken-san. Premature births are very normal," Megumi calmly told him. "Right now, she's barely dilated. From the looks of it, this could take until tomorrow if the baby isn't anxious to make an appearance."

"Tomorrow?!" Kaoru practically exclaimed. "I can't wait until tomorrow. I want this baby out now!" She dropped her head against the pillow and let out a yell. As she reached out blindly in search of something to hold on to, Kenshin caught her hand in his. She felt his fingers curl around hers in a grip that was strong and solid, and she hung on to the lifeline and rode out the storm.

"Just bear with it for now, Kaoru. Just for now," he soothed. "And it'll all be worth it in the end, that it will."

Through the curtain of pain in her mind, she forced herself to focus on what he had said. He was right – it would all be worth it once this is over. They'd have a baby to call their own, to care for and to love with all their hearts. The thought both frightened and excited her more than anything in her entire life.

"Yes," she managed softly, the strain leaking through her voice. "Yes, it'll all be worth it."

But just as she said the words, she was crying out again the next moment, gasping for air and fighting the pain instead of riding with it. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was writhing uncontrollably almost as if she were trying to get away from herself.

Seeing this, Genzai-sensai reached for her wrist, checked her pulse, and turned to Megumi with grave eyes. Giving him a terse nod in understanding, she turned to the woman lying on the mattress. "Kaoru-san, you need to relax. Just breathe slowly in and out through each contraction."

She shook her head, with her eyes squeezing shut to the pain that was all but consuming her. "I don't know how."

"Don't worry. That's what I'm here for," Megumi said. "But I need you to listen to me and do what I tell you. You have to ride with the wave, not fight it. Take small short breaths. Pant like a dog," she instructed.

"You want me to pant like a dog?" There was a trace of pained sarcasm in her voice.

"Didn't I tell you to listen?" the female doctor chided with patience worthy of admiration. "I'm going to help you with this next contraction, and I promise it will be easier this time. Alright?"

Meekly, Kaoru forced a slight nod.

"Good. Ken-san, you'll also have to pay attention as I tell Kaoru-san what to do. I'm going to need your help later on."

Edging closer to his wife, he nodded as well. "Of course."

"Okay. Kaoru-san, I want you to take short sharp breaths. Blowing out, just like this," Megumi said, then gave a quick demonstration. When Kaoru immediately followed her lead, she praised, "Good. That's right. You mustn't try to fight the pain. You have to work with it. And if you get the urge to push, resist it if you can until I tell you to."

Kenshin watched on silently as the agony of the contraction began to ebb away from Kaoru's face. He felt the treacherous throb in her hand and his heart like a full sponge, wept a little. She hadn't let go, seemingly needing the physical contact just to remind herself she wasn't alone. And she wasn't. She'll never be alone, because he'll be there with her at every step of the way.

"How was that? Better?" Megumi asked.

"Yes," she answered, surprised to discover it was true. "Thanks for that."

The doctor gave her first smile since Kaoru's labour pains started. "Don't thank me yet." Turning to Kenshin, she said, "Now Ken-san, I need you to take over during the next contraction while I check the baby's heart rate. Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course."

As if on cue, Kaoru inhaled sharply. "Oh, no. There's another one coming–" She sucked in a sharp breath, feeling the next onslaught of her contractions overtake her, this time more intense than the last. Her countenance contorted in great agony, her breath coming out in short and quick pants. Nimbly, she shook her head. "It hurts too much! I don't think I can do this."

"Kaoru, look at me." Kenshin waited until she turned pain-stricken eyes to him. Earlier when his heart had wept, it now pounded painfully in his throat. "Just breathe in," He gently instructed. "Now breathe out. Breathe out, Kaoru."

Her breath came out as an agonizing moan. Soothingly, he continued to speak to her and in the rhythm of her breathing. "That's it. Remember what Megumi-dono said. Keep taking short, sharp breaths."

She paused briefly after each out-breath just as she should, her lungs drawing in the next breath rhythmically. And when she felt the pain start to slowly subside once more, she released another long, hot breath and even managed a faint smile. "Thank you. That was short but horrible."

Quiet awe shone in his violet eyes. "You're doing well, that you are."

"I had help."

He smiled at her reassuringly, then looked up to the doctor-pair. "Megumi-dono, Genzai-sensei, how is the baby doing?"

When they merely exchanged worried glances, his face stiffened anew into a gray apprehension. "What is it?"

"What?" Kaoru asked anxiously, noticing the tension in the air. "What's wrong?"

The female doctor met her stare with a cool gaze. "There's nothing wrong, Kaoru-san. Genzai-sensai and I were just monitoring the time between your contractions."

"So the baby's okay?"

She drew a quiet breath, and spoke her next words slowly. "I'm afraid the baby is not handling it as well as we like."

Kaoru felt her blood ran cold and burned under her skin. "What do you mean?"

"The contractions are occurring far too close together," the doctor explained. "Your body is becoming extremely weak because you're not getting enough rest in between them. It's causing your pulse rate to drop quickly, along with the baby's heartbeat."

She pulled out a white medicinal pack from her medical kit. "I'm going to give you a prescription that could slow down the labour pains, but it will take a while for the medication to take its effect. I don't want to risk giving you anything stronger because most of the more potent medicines I have available will only work temporarily and have long-term, unpleasant side effects later on. That is certainly a risk I'm not willing to take."

Kaoru's lips were as tremulous as brook-water as she felt the next wave of contractions wash over her. "Okay," she said in a half-breathless murmur. "So what do I do?"

"For now, you will take the prescription, then we'll wait and see if your condition improves."

Kenshin studied the doctor carefully. "And if it doesn't?"

"If there are still no signs of improvement in the next thirty minutes, I'm going to have to perform a manual operation."

His stomach dropped as he stared at Megumi's solemn face. Sliding a glance down at Kaoru, he noted the wild, panicked look in her blue eyes as she tightened her grip on his hand and moistened her dry lips.

"Is it dangerous, Megumi-dono?"

Shaking her head, she offered, "Not if I can get the baby out in time."

It was meant to assure him, he knew. Yet, it did nothing to calm his raging heart. There were a thousand unutterable fearful thoughts that bore irresistible despotism over his mind. Thoughts of how horribly wrong this entire operation could go came thronging in a terrified haste. And there were questions too. Questions of whether Kaoru would survive the surgery, of whether Megumi could get the baby out in time shook through him, loud and true.

Megumi must have seen the swift unformulated fear flashed across his face as she spoke again, this time with all the assurance and kind patience in her gaze. "You are going to have to trust me, Ken-san. I've done this many times before."

"I do, Megumi-dono. It would be an insult to you if I didn't, that it would." But it's different, he said to himself. It's different when something so real is happening to someone you love with your whole heart, when your very survival is dependent on someone else's.

"Will Kaoru be okay?" he asked.

"I will make sure of it," the doctor promised.

"Kenshin," Kaoru croaked in a broken whisper.

Like a vice, a great pang twisted around his heart. He had to remind himself that there was Kaoru to think of. He couldn't possibly allow himself to be plumbed by his own fears, or frighten her further while expressing them. He needed to be calm, if not for his sake then for hers.

Impelled by a conviction to steady his racing heart, he reached out to stroke her hair away from her face tenderly. "It'll be all right," he soothed. "Everything's going to be okay."

"What if something happens?" Her eyes were diluted with pain and fear. "What if something happens to the baby?"

"Nothing's going to happen." He made certain his voice sounded firm and steady, even to himself. "Didn't you hear? Megumi-dono is not going to let anything happen to you or the baby. And I'll be right here with you, and I'll stay with you until it's over, that I will."

She met his gaze and saw the cool resolve in the depths of his eyes. Drawn to his strength, she conceded with a nod.

He smiled.

"Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

The next thirty minutes went by in haze of pain. Kenshin continued to talk her through her labour pains gently and reassuringly as he helped her to find the rhythm in her breathing. While the desire to give in to the fear was almost overwhelming, he fought to hold the urge at bay staying absolutely calm and composed.

But when he saw Megumi shaking her head as she listened in to the baby's heart beat through her stethoscope, all that endurance with a smiling and forced composure flew out the shoji doors. And in its place was now a renewed sense of dread running through his nerves like the chill of an icy wind.

"Megumi-dono?"

"Ken-san, Kaoru-san, I'm afraid I don't hear enough of an improvement on the baby's heart rate. I'm going to need to deliver your baby right now."

"Right now?!" Alarm and bewilderment edged Kaoru's voice. "But what if… what if…" She couldn't say it, couldn't bring herself to say it.

Understanding completely, Megumi laid a comforting hand on her arm. "It'll be alright. I promise."

Genzai-sensai turned to Kenshin. "Kenshin-san, I suggest you wait outside. Yahiko-kun, you too."

"No. I'm staying with her. I'm not leaving."

The sharp defiance in his tone had Megumi turning to him in surprise. "Ken-san," she began carefully, her voice a soft plea of urgency. "You're going to have to trust me."

"Kenshin?"

He turned to his wife, looked into her eyes which were flame-blue and vivid as jewels, and saw the same doubts, the same fears, the same apprehension glimmering painfully back at him. But underneath that surface was a woman who possessed an inherent strength in the face of challenges and trials, with a quiet confidence in her own abilities. And he felt emotion rushing into his throat and flooding onto his face. Yes, he had to trust, in her most of all. If not with her, whom he loved with his whole heart, where would he begin?

The gesture was all strength and will as he gave her small hand a firm and comforting squeeze. "It'll be okay, Kaoru. I'll be right outside if you need me."

"C'mon, Kenshin," Yahiko said, pulling the man along with him towards the entrance of the bedroom. Kenshin cast one last look at his wife before he stepped out into the frigid cold.

The minute the shoji door closed behind them, the warmth from the hibachi and Kaoru's painful moans shut down to a muffled echoing stir in the stillness. Resigned to an agonizing wait, they seated themselves on the engawa, both man and boy as they dropped into an eloquent silence.

Night had befallen on them, the heavens above them a wine-blue and bubbling with stars. The shadows rested quietly under the breezeless sky. Everything was as quiet as it would be in winter, the world subdued and fragile. Kenshin felt the chill creeping under his skin, but he thought nothing of the bitter cold. Tonight was a night of little ease to his toiling mind as he awaited the news of his wife's safe delivery and the sound of a baby's first cry.

"She'll be fine."

Kenshin turned to the boy next to him. The spikey-haired child had his face lifted towards the blue bowl of the sky, all glorious with the blaze of a million worlds. From the way his expression remained almost completely impassive, he looked as though he had not spoken at all. Then he spoke again, this time in a firmer voice. "She'll make it. This is Kaoru we're talking about. She's stronger than this."

_Comfort_, Kenshin thought. _This is comfort._ Not surprisingly, the boy's pithy statement gave him just that. "Aa," he murmured simply.

The palpitating silence lengthened, the gloom of winter seemingly dwelling on everything. The moonlight laid over them like a pale spotless shroud, as frail enchantment as the gleam of stars upon snow. It was endless and had a way about it. In that moment, Kenshin felt the disparate shards of his life knit together, every past sadness, every painful secret and memory hidden now beneath the soft white layers.

"So…" Yahiko began at length, breaking the silence and his reverie. "Do you think it'll be a girl or a boy?"

Touched with a sort of reverential gratitude, Kenshin permitted himself a small smile, aware that the boy was attempting to distract him from the clamoured hysteria of his thoughts. "I don't know," he admitted. "What do you think?"

The young samurai shrugged. "I'm going to go with boy. Not because I like boys better or anything," he added hastily. "It's just that I have this gut feeling."

"I see."

Kenshin allowed himself to picture it in his mind – a little girl, maybe with Kaoru's midnight hair, full lips and marble blue eyes. Or a little boy, with hair the colour of fire, warm amethyst eyes and his mother's zest for life. He shut his eyes to the image he saw – a child in play, looking over, then running towards him, missing a step and tumbling into his outstretched arms. There was laughter in the air, a beautiful sound of eager pleasure and delight.

And he knew.

"Boy," he agreed after a long pause, the knowledge filling him like a lovely gold light. "Something tells me it's a boy too, that it does."

Yahiko grinned. "I guess we'll find out soon enough huh?"

Then, there it was. Slicing through the silver silence of the star-hung night came suddenly the cry of a new-born child; its voice rang loud and clear like a bugle call, breaking the tension that hung heavily in the winter air. Startled, Kenshin bolted to his feet, with Yahiko following suit and stood staring at the closed shoji door like a statuesque figure. As the air continued to ring full of the cry and clamour of the baby inside the room, he felt his insides began to twist in knots from the anticipation.

A moment later, the door slide open, revealing an overjoyed Genzai-sensei at the entrance. He stepped out onto the engawa, joining the pair and laid a wrinkly hand on Kenshin's shoulder. "Congratulations, Kenshin-san. It's a boy."

He almost forgot to breathe. _A boy. It's really a boy._

"Whoa. Did you hear that, Kenshin?" Yahiko asked from beside him. "Can't believe we were right! Congrats, you're a dad now."

"A-Aa," Kenshin managed in a sort of stunned incredulity.

Soon, Megumi was at the door, carrying a little bundle wrapped in a towel with her. Like Genzai-sensei, she too was all sunshine and smiles.

"Here's your son, Ken-san." Gently, she placed the new-born into his arms. He gazed down at the red-faced infant and was instantly swamped with a feeling of love the likes of which he'd never felt before. Overwhelmed with emotion, he glanced up at Megumi with shining eyes. "What of Kaoru? Is she alright?"

She nodded and the breath he didn't know he was holding shuddered out with pure unadulterated relief. "She's completely exhausted, but she'll be fine with plenty of rest. She's starting to wake from the mild anesthesia I administered to her. Why don't you go in and introduce her to her son?"

He felt his heart poured out like the rending sea in passionate wave on wave. Neither he nor Kaoru could have done it without the female doctor, and he doubted he'd ever forget this snowy night, the night they all have been part of a miracle.

"Megumi-dono." Deep pools of joy rioted in his large violet eyes. "Thank you."

The smile that came was exquisitely glittering. "You're most welcome, Ken-san. Now go on." She cajoled, stepping aside and giving him space to enter before closing the shoji door quietly behind her.

Inside, his eyes instantly fell onto the woman lying on the futon. He knelt on the mattress next to her, syllabling her name in a loving whisper. "Kaoru."

Slowly, she blinked her eyes open. As her tired gaze met his, a smile flashed over her face like hopeful sunshine over a broken flower. "Kenshin, how's the baby?"

"He's perfect." His lips parted in a joyous smile. "We have a son, Kaoru."

Tears began to well up and stream down the side of her face like pearl drops from a flint. "We have a son," she echoed breathlessly.

"Here." Kenshin gently placed the sleeping baby into her waiting arms and watched her gaze down at the tiny miracle they've created. In that instant, everything seemed to glow as if it had been washed with gold. Here he was, with his beautiful wife and child. It was a dream he never dared harboured, to have a family as complete as the one he has now.

When Kaoru smiled up at him, there were tears sparkling on her lashes. "Oh, Kenshin. He's beautiful."

"Aa. Like his mother," he murmured, charming a delicate blush out of her. "What shall we name him?"

"I'd like to name him after you, if you don't mind."

His violet eyes widened in surprise. "After me?"

"Yes," she affirmed. "Since it's a boy, I was thinking of the name Kenji."

"Kenji?"

Kaoru nodded. "I imagined he'll grow up to be a fine swordsman one day, just like his father." She looked down at the baby, love hovering in her gaze. "He'll be sweet, gentle and honest. Kenji, with his father's hair, a kind nature and a deep, rich heart. It'll be perfect."

Everything inside Kenshin lit up like one big candle of love. He couldn't love her any more than he did at that moment. She had given him so much, and more. If Tomoe had changed his life, Kaoru had righted it again. In a new way, a new place, a new life. And while his first wife had given him his first taste of what it was to be a man, his second had made him one.

Moved to unaccustomed tears, he leaned over and rested his brow to hers, his eyes boring deep into her dazzlingly blue ones. "I love you, Kaoru."

"I love you more."

Kenshin smiled. He had truly believed that he couldn't be happier. But it was only when his arms circled both his wife and new-born child, instinctively making them a unit that he learned what perfect happiness meant. And as her sigh filled his mouth with an emotion that was sweet and gentle shimmering inside him, he knew then that his joy was truly complete.

* * *

**Author's notes: **_And there you have it – the fourth chapter into the story, and such a lengthy one at that! This was by far my favourite season to write, particularly because of all the emotions involved with the characters, especially Kenshin's. _

_The next chapter coming up would be – you guessed it! Summer! _

_Please leave a review! I would know that you liked or didn't like the chapter if you do. :)_


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